"Arcino! This is your first real fight, be careful." Quincy said, smiling. The treecko scowled and helds his hands loosely at his side. Esper purred at the treecko and then looked at their enemies, a Gligar, a Growlithe, and a Grimer

"You ready Esper?" Thomas asked, smiling at the cat.

"Electrike! Use tacle on that Gligar!" Randy called.

"Heheheh," Quincy laughed to himself as the small puppy hit the gargoyle, making him take off into the air.

"What are you laughing at you trash!?" Randy snapped. Thomas blinked, confused. The Tackle was pretty strong, and Electrike was a powerful pokemon, what was the matter?

"Don't you see the problem? An electric type trying to battle a ground type, honestly." Quincy said. Types? Wah?

"Esper, confusion on that Grimer." Thomas said slowly, watching the cat fire a raingow colored beam at the big blob.

"Gligar, Dig!" the man said, and the gargoyle dove under the ground. Randy looked around and scowled.

"You don't know a thing about types... How sad. Trainers indeed. Each pokemon has one or two types they can be." Quincy said, adding "Double Team Arcino!"

"What does it matter? Electrike is way tougher than- ELECTRIKE! Get up you stupid mutt!" Randy shouted. Thomas scowled and turned his attention back to his own battle. Types... He already knew about them... But remembering what type beat what was tough. He knew that Esper's Psychic Type beat Poison and Fighting, but was beaten by Ghost, Bug, and Dark. But beyond that... Some were obvious, like Arcino was going to get hurt, because fire sets grass and wood ablaze. And lightning was very dangerous to flying because they had to fly in it... Gligar was clearly a Flying Type... So... Why did he know a Ground move? Wait... One or TWO types! Gligar must have two types!

"Simple really. Like that growlithe has an advantage over my Arcino, Gligar has one over Electrike!" Quincy said, smiling. The electric dog groaned and collapsed.

"W-what? One hit? ONE HIT!!" Randy said angrily. Esper yowled loudly as he was hit by a powerful Pound, snapping Thomas's attention back to his own battle.

"Arcino, be careful!" Quinxy said. Thomas needed to beat this guy and help Quincy!

"Pound Arcino!" Quincy said desperately, trying to keep his pokemon moving so he would not get hurt by the two pokemon with type advantages.

"Growlithe, Flame Wheel!" the lead grunt said with a smirk. Growlithe cloaked himself in fire and charged at Arcino, who rolled out of the way, the flames barely missing him.

"Esper! Time to end this! Psychic now!" Thomas cried. The espeon's gem glowed with power and the grimer clutched his head.

"GRI!" it cried, fainting.

"Good, Esper, Tackle that Growlithe now!" Thomas said. Esper darted forward with shocking agility and slammed into the dog, getting burned in the process by his Flame Wheel, but knocking him away from Arcino.

"Hm... Get him Gligar! Aerial Ace!" the second grunt said.

"Growlithe! Are you ok?" the first one said, concerned.

"Randy, you could learn a lot from this guy." Thomas commented. That was bad, when some whacko cared more about his pokemon than you did.

"Shut the hell up!" Randy said angrily. He had returned his pokemon and was standing next to Quincy and Thomas.

"Heh. indeed you could! Arcino, Pound attack!" Quincy said.

"Confusion Esper!" Thomas said, hoping Esper would focus on the same one Arcino did. Esper sent his agreement through their link... What, Esper read his mind? Weird... Oh well. The two attacks slammed into the already weakened Gligar one after another, and it fainted. The lead grunt recoiled, but his growlithe glared at them.

"Growlithe... Return." he said. "It seems I misjudged you trainers..."

"Hah! Wuss, you run as soon as the battle goes against you!" Randy said.

"Hm... You ought to be ashamed. Both of you. Think what your pokemon want. Do they want to be treated like nothing Randy? Do they want to be coddled and held back Cliff? Of course not. Your pokemon are living breathing creatures. They have needs and desires too, and it is your obligation as their trainers to fulfill them." Quincy said.

"Bah, shut up." Randy said, scowling.

"How did you know my name? Never mind. Knight's, return! We go home!" the leader said, climbing into his car and driving away. Knights, huh? And Quincy... How did he know them? The boy was hiding a lot. And as for what he said... Was Esper happy with the life that had been chosen for him? Were they really doing the right thing? What other choice DID they have now?

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What is real? What is truth? Is it something you can touch? Can you see it? Find it? Hold it in your hands? What is true for you is not always the truth for someone else.